History, technology, and probably some other stuff

Tip of the Week: Black History Month Resources 2013

by glennw on February 8, 2013

To be honest, I’m a bit torn about the whole idea of Black History Month. The concept started way back in 1926 when historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History announced the second week of February to be “Negro History Week.” That particular week was chosen because it marked the birthday of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

The hope was that the week would eventually be eliminated when black history became fundamental to American history teaching. In 1976, the federal government followed the lead of the Black United Students at Kent State and established the entire month as Black History Month. President Ford urged Americans, and especially teachers and schools, to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

The hope was that essential people, events, and places, routinely ignored, would be incorporated throughout the instructional year as part of social studies instruction.

First, I’d like to acknowledge that, on the chance that you’re actually celebrating Black History Month, congrats. You haven’t let the Common Core madness deter you from celebrating culture, whether it’s your own or someone else’s. The decorations will spring up. Common faces like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Benjamin Banneker, and Will Smith will border the walls of a few classrooms, and probably a few hallways. There might be a fact-a-day in the announcements, and one in 400 schools might have someone who knows the Black National Anthem.

But, has it ever occurred to you that, as well-intentioned as this might be, we ought to take the next step and celebrate Black history on March 1st as well?

Why am I torn? Too many social studies teachers still use February to have kids memorize random black history facts and call it good. (We also have a habit of doing the same thing with women’s history and Latino history and Asian American history and Native American history and . . . well, pretty much anything that’s not Dead White Guy history.)

I’m torn because I know many are looking for great Black History month resources. And I have a list. But part of me is afraid that it will only get used between now and February 28.

So.

Here’s the rule. Use these resources during February but you get to cherry pick just one or two things off the list for now. Save some for March. Save some for April. Save some for . . . well, you get the idea. Black History is our history. Black history and women’s history and Latino history and Asian American history and Native American history and Dead White Guy history are all part of who we are. We’re all part of the story and we need to tell it better.

African American History Month from the Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

pays tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.

Reblogged this on Joanne Tosti-Vasey Blogging for Equality and commented:
In honor of Black History Month (February), Women’s History Month (March), Asian Pacific American History Month (May), National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15), Muslim American Heritage month (October), and Native American Heritage Month (November), etc., let’s celebrate and honor people’s heritage and experiences throughout the year. This blog gives some ideas for focusing on Black History Month,but calls for honoring one’s heritage year round, no matter what heritage that might be. I agree.

Well said Glenn! It is difficult to convince children to own their history if it is constantly ripped out of the tapestry which makes up the rich context of our past. Segregated history like segregated schools imply the superiority of one and the inferiority of the other. Let’s celebrate the history of all people, after all we have done some pretty amajzing things.

Thanks for dropping by! As a curriculum specialist and consultant for ESSDACK, an educational service center in Hutchinson, Kansas, I get the opportunity to chat all day long about social studies and technology. Feel free to poke around!

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